Remnants of the Ancients
by The StrayXIII
Summary: A controversial matter that pushes forth a new world government, a struggle in a relationship where the answers should be apparent for him. The prosperous Phoenixians descend from the skies, with them a hate-filled history from across the Universe itself.
1. Prelude

**DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy VII and all of its characters and story copyright Square Enix. All original content, _including the elements unrelated to the history of Final Fantasy VII_are hereby claimed as my own original content. Admittedly--and only just--some elements in the history of said original content was _inspired_ by Final Fantasy VII. Hey, I'm a fan.**

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**AMBUSH**

Cloud parked Fenrir by the shore of the pond. On the surface of the water was a distant memory playing before his eyes. He saw himself, lowering her body, while the others watched on with tear-filled eyes and hearts weighed down with anguish. It was only recently that he realized it—two years after they aided Vincent with his mission. Did Cloud just miss out on something? He remembered Aerith's warm smile, but then saw Tifa in a welcoming embrace. He slid to the ground and sighed. If Zack were here... what would he say? Well, he'd probably tease Cloud first, and then maybe he would give some advice. Hold on, didn't Aerith say that she met Zack before? Yeah, Cloud could have sworn she mentioned a boyfriend in SOLDIER. It was probably Zack—he was the type to get the girls. Not like Cloud... No! Get a hold of yourself, Strife! That's just ridiculous. He shouldn't be thinking up crazy, outrageous theories. What were important right now were Tifa and their family. After all, they were counting on him.

Yet for some reason Cloud felt completely lost. There was something nagging at him from the back of his head, but what the hell did all of that mean?

"There's seriously something wrong with me," he admitted loudly. He allowed for the responding silence to soak in. He should probably head out soon. After all, the new government was really strict on the use of oil. Cloud was already violating his permit by even being in the Forgotten City in the first place.

Suddenly his phone rang, surprising him. He stood up and walked over to Fenrir as he brought out his phone.

It was when he was about to answer that it happened: gales of darkness, panic and a struggle. At its departure there was nothing. Neither Cloud nor his beloved Fenrir was there, only a broken cell phone abandoned by the shore of the pond.

* * * *

"Wha... what happened?"

"We crashed."

"No shit. Really, what the hell just happened?" Slowly he got up and found himself caught by the numbing of his arms and legs. Just great. His movements were seriously restricted.

"Tylor," he called out. "The hell are you? I need a quick fix right about now..."

"Kairon, Tylor's's not here," responded his companion.

"What are you getting at, Daemeon?" Kairon didn't like his tone. Except for voluntary cheerfulness and jeer, Daemeon was a devoted stoic. As opposed to the stiff face people would watch for smiles or telltale signs of a slip-up, Kairon focused on the sound of Daemeon's laughter, anger, joy, and sadness. It was a lot more telling for Kairon, even if he weren't blind and forced to do so. Right now, the slight hesitation Kairon could hear in Daemeon's voice was worrisome.

"Be my eyes, D, and tell me what you can see," said Kairon. He didn't have to say it, but he'd rather state the obvious than linger in the silence. It was suffocating.

"While I'm at it, you should meditate," suggested Daemeon. Also an obvious statement, but this time that fact slipped away from Kairon's focus. Sitting cross-legged and taking a deep breath, Kairon closed his eye lids and hummed to a mantra. He was taught to chant it with his mind and not with his vocal chords. It was something only the spirits should hear. Kairon remembered the day the masters explained the purposed of this exercise: to observe the spirit of the land and to learn from it, so that he may see the way it sees and become one with it.

Kairon gasped and nearly lost focus—which would have forced him to start over. Daemeon heard him and ran over, concerned.

"Kairon, what's wrong? Do you see something?"

"I... I can't believe it! So many!"

"What are you talking about?" Daemeon sounded confused.

"It's like an endless stream of souls—heh, 'like'? I betcha it is! It's unbelievable! Wow! I can even hear them talking to me! It's amazing! This world's spirit... it's nothing like ours! When souls die here they return to the stream at the center of the world and become one with the planet. And when it's time to rejoin the living they become the soul of a plant or animal or a human being!"

"That's nice," Kairon ignored the fact that Daemeon had a hint of amusement in his voice. "Well, does that mean they don't have to go through that annoying Cave of Reincarnation thing that They told us about?"

"Damn straight, those lucky bastards!" Kairon smirked as he swallowed Daemeon's laughter in full. Kairon was filled with so much energy the numbness in his body had vanished. Kairon jumped up, onto his feet, and spun around to wave at Daemeon. His Aura stood out—naturally—from the rest of the world's spirit. The voices of the souls in the earth's core spoke to Kairon as though they were right at his ear.

_It's called the Lifestream..._

"Man, Kairo," Daemeon made a motion of wiping a tear from his eye. His laughter calmed down and he was taking deep breaths to steady himself. "You can be such a kid sometimes, you know?"

"Hey, I'll be eighteen soon!" retorted Kairon, taking some offence to that.

"Keyword is 'soon'," teased Daemeon. Kairon clicked his tongue irritably.

"Well, I'll take your annoying comments any day as opposed to _his_ snarky remarks."

"Yeah... speaking of which, I think it's safe to say that everyone's been separated."

"Yep, looks like it's just you and me, D," Kairon said in an oddly cheerful manner. It even surprised him.

"_Hoi!_ Don't go write me off like I'm dead!"

Daemeon and Kairon turned to see a girl in a green body-fitting suit with blue glowing lines over the left side of her body from the shoulder to the ankle. Round circles sat at the shoulder and ankle, sandwiching the line from point A to B. Her hair was tightly knotted at the top, but styled to have some locks of hair curled near the end of the ponytail. Her eyes were hidden behind a large visor that even eclipsed her nose.

"Kim! You're alright!" said Daemeon.

"Hah, more than alright," scoffed the girl named Kim. "I can withstand crashes like the one we just experienced, if you can remember. Or did you forget what I am?"

"Hard to because you can't be classified as 'human' in the first place," answered Kairon.

"Or _sub_human for that matter," added Daemeon.

"By the way, Your Highness, your _tiara_ is a bit wonky." The delight in her tones was too obvious for Kairon to even consider using his well trained hearing.

"_Crown of manageable size_," retorted Daemeon fiercely. "And _don't_ call me 'Your Highness'! How many times do I have to say that?" Kairon bit back some laughter. It was only on this topic did Daemeon ever let slip his emotions.

"My apologies," said Kim a little too loftily.

"Regardless," quickly spoke Daemeon, clearly forcing his irritation into the past. "What can you report, seeing as how you were in charge of steering the ship?"

"Oh I can assure you I'm not in charge of steering anything," said Kim. "I'm along for the ride to make sure nothing went wrong... with the technology at least."

"I see..." started Kairon. "My head's a bit fuzzy on the detail. Can you tell us what happened?"

"If you can recall we were about to depart from the portal grounds to accompany the Pouty Prince over there on his first mission... as a royalty on official business for the King."

"Naturally," interrupted Daemeon. "I'm only prince because the Great Dragon's statue recognized my soul as the next heir. I never asked for such a responsibility."

"Yeah, because _killing peopl_eis _so_ much easier than ruling over a country," sarcastically commented Kairon. Daemeon didn't hesitate to hit Kairon at the back of his head.

"Moving on," ignored Kim. "It was during the flight preparations that something went wrong. It's easy to say that someone was tampering with the portal to alter our destination. My scanners tell me so."

"Where's the ship now?" asked Daemeon.

"Where else? In space," said Kim. "The enemy was most likely after you so we had to buy you time while you escaped on a pod ship. I tagged along with Kairon to protect you... and establish communications."

"Oh right... I remember now."

Kairon listened to them talk some more about a likely suspect, or suspects, who would want to get to Daemeon. In the mean time Kairon had a more pressing question in his head. Daemeon said it was just him, Kairon, and now Kim. Tylor Winter, Kairon's best friend, was nowhere to be found. Even more pressing was the girl often caught as the middleman of the friendship was missing too.

"Did Triz go with Tylor?" Kairon suddenly asked.

"Your sister's the Drifter," said Kim. "She was probably trying to fight off against the interference to save us all."

"But we're here, aren't we?" asked Daemeon. "Then that would mean that they're all here... just somewhere else."

"We'll soon find out once my crew's given us the clear. We need to know where exactly in the Universe we are and establish connections, find out our standings, and investigate possible suspects that want to shove you into the dirt—"

"You're getting all techy again!" warned Daemeon weakly. Kairon scoffed. Putting Daemeon six feet under would be worse than keeping him alive. What moronic idiot would want to do that? Of course, not _everybody_ knew about Daemeon's little forbidden secret.

"Well, space stuff on the side, don't you think this is all important if we want to find our friends? We know nothing about this place."

"I beg to differ!" objected Daemeon.

"The Lifestream," suddenly announced Kairon, easily shutting the other two up. "Gaia, this world, but commonly referred to as the Planet. A planet where all life exists thanks to the power of the Lifestream. WEAPONs: biological constructs that protect the Planet when it is endangered. Mako energy, the discovery of Materia—a source of power. This is Her legacy."

"The Planet?" echoed Daemeon, only sounding slightly awed by the flood of information Kairon just spouted.

"They recognize you," said Kairon.

"Who?"

"The voices do. They tell me that you were going to die."

"Does this have something to do about you catching the Plague? Was it in this world?" pried Kim. Daemeon gasped lightly.

"I... don't want to talk about it," he said with a visible and audible shudder.

"Anyway, by the looks of things it's like another version of our Lady Earth, Letalis," said Kim.

"You forgot Wundor in that picture," reminded Daemeon.

"Right, even though—scientifically—they're—"

"We have no time for explanations," interrupted Kairon. It was uncharacteristic of him, as he was always the type to listen to any educational lecture—even if he knew the information. "I sense... something dangerous."

"... I see. Nice to know there are still people out there that can out-sense me," said Daemeon, a hint of pride in his voice. Kairon suppressed his embarrassment.

"Before our guests drop by on their all-terrain vehicles," said Kim, toying with the visor over her eyes. If Kairon could see he would see little lit up lines crisscrossing the visor as they followed and outlined any threatening movement in the area. "I've got to remind you, I gave you all those ear pieces that allow you to understand the standard language of this world."

"I've been wondering how you guys can accomplish that," said Kairon.

"Well, you-know-who's done a good job in gathering information any which way he can," answered Kim. "It's what he got from when he had to haul your sick ass out of this place."

"Well excuse me," mumbled Daemeon.

"But!" suddenly blurted Kim. "We can understand but not speak!"

"Heads up," warned Kairon. Already Daemeon was ahead of them. Kairon saw his Aura falter slightly, reacting to a quick and subtle movement his arms made. For whatever reason, Kairon knew that Daemeon was preparing the hidden aces up his arms.

Large tank like vehicles came rushing up towards them from the horizon. Visible were large cannons aimed and presumably ready to fire at them. They came in threes, in all directions. Backs against each other, Kairon, Kim, and Daemeon made sure that they didn't leave any weak opening to the opposition.

"Don't make any sudden moveme..."

"Hey, finish that sentence! Don't you know it's wrong for a prince to do that!" harassed Kim. She tensed up too, once she realized what silenced Daemeon.

Kairon felt a surge of energy, urging him to defend himself and his friends. He could see Auras from above them swooping down on them. What completely caught him off guard to this otherwise obvious tactic was that the Auras of these living beings were originally thought to be unique, extinct—except for the glaring exception that was—

"Kairon, watch out!" shouted Daemeon. Without a choice Kairon moved. Whether he wanted to or not, he had to fight back. He felt something fall out from behind his ear, and through that he knew he couldn't keep any promises. The flow of the Lifestream coursing through him did not leave him a chance to stop, not that he wanted to anyway. It was an endless energy, something of the likes he had never experienced before.

"Kairon!" cried Daemeon.

"Don't allow them to escape!" screamed someone with command. "By the power of New Movement, they should be tried for their tyranny!"

"Your Highness, we've got to get moving!" urged Kim, narrowly dodging a soaring bullet. Kairon had risen up into the air by now, combating against their flight enabled opponents.

"My Prince," suddenly shouted Kairon majestically. It sounded as though his voice had melded with many others. "Leave this to me!" With a clap of his hands there was a chorus of voices and then a blinding flash...

* * *

**Well, I never expected to _ever_ put a story up here. All along I've been stupidly wasting my time in the Beyblade archives on failed stories: stories that never got finished. Part of that was due to the forever calling original story I want to publish someday. Fortunately, I got much of the beginning of said story done via independent study project for my English Writer's Craft course. It gave me insight to the joy of writing... _original_ content for once. Being bound through fanworks is severely stressful as I have to be aware of the fans. Yes, the fans that demand that what they know is what is right--_law_, in fact. Of course it's more of an insult to those who can't back up their claim with a single shred of evidence (no, I'm not counting your cries of 'he can't be like because he's supposed to be [enter annoying stereotype here]). Let that be a warning: I like writing OOC. BUT, as this is Final Fantasy VII and deserves _much_ more respect than that other series I've been paying years of attention to, much of the OOC I do I try to justify by the possibilities of writing the character in such a way. I'm not basing my reasons on what was already given: I'm working on the '_what could have been_'. Nevertheless, I am hoping you enjoyed this short stint of a chapter. Admittedly, it's the shortest chapter one I've ever wrote in my entire life.**

**The Stray XIII**

PS--Final Fantasy XIII came out-- FINALLY! But I don't have a PS3... or the game. But I do have and HD TV so that's pretty much cut the expenses in half... March Break, damn I want it so bad. But I have a feeling I won't be graduating if I get my hands on it too soon. Maybe it _is_ a good thing I've decided to avoid TvTropes for Lent.


	2. First Remnant

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Final Fantasy related content... yet. I just need to make it through university first.**

**Note: As of Tuesday, March 23rd Prelude and the First three Remnants (chapters) have been given slight edits. It's good to reread in case I added more informative details. Of course, you don't have to.

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**REGRET**

Echoes of his last words lingered in Cloud's mind. Her warm smile like a ghost along the walls of his conscience. He knew he was supposed to be remembering the happiness with them, not wishing that he could have saved them. That issue was solved six long years ago. But right now there was something bothering him.

"Tifa..." Cloud mumbled as he stirred. He was lying down on something hard and his entire body hurt. He slowly opened his eyes, watchful for the pain from opening them in light. Instead he saw the light from a fire and someone standing over him. He gasped when the fuzzy silhouette reminded him of Sephiroth, but quickly it shifted to someone else. Slowly sitting up he said, "F-Florian?"

"Rub your eyes clear before you make any assumptions, Strife," said a voice different from what he was expecting. He recognized that voice. Just months after the cure for Geostigma was discovered Cloud met the owner of that voice. This time he sounded older, but not enough to place five and a half years into it.

"H-huh? Kousei? What are you doing here?" stuttered Cloud after he did what he was told.

"_Long_ story, dude," Kousei massaged the side of his neck. Something told Cloud he'd been standing there for a while now.

"Last thing I remember was my phone ringing in the Forgotten City," said Cloud.

"And then you dropped it in the water in all the chaos... again," added Kousei.

"Wait, 'again'? How'd you know?"

"Memories, remember? I've read through yours last time."

"Oh yeah... uh, Kousei, your nose is bleeding. And why are you wearing those massive goggles in a dark place like this?" Cloud looked around him. They were in a cave and the mouth wasn't far off. Cloud could see the trees of the Forgotten City from where he lay. Kousei had put up a campfire, keeping them warm.

"Hm?" Kousei seemed to have failed to realize that his nose was bleeding. As for his goggles, he only adjusted them on his face after Cloud pointed them out. He wiped the blood, only to be met with more blood flowing out of his nostrils. "Shoot."

"What's wrong?"

"This only happens when the unthinkable happens—except this time I'm thankful that the flow is so calm. And that I can think straight."

"When you say 'unthinkable'..."

"I mean when I can't remember anything. There are times when I forget stuff like how a normal person would, but in the event of actually failing to recall a memory when I should be able too... it's horrible."

"How so?" Kousei pursed his lips before he responded.

"The last time something like this happened was the first time. My head wanted to break apart, my nose kept bleeding almost until I was bloodless. It was when I learned about... the truth..."

"When you realized your memories were missing," Cloud said for him. "I remember, you told me last time."

"It wasn't just my memories, Cloud." Kousei slid along as the wall of a cave. He sat next to the cot he prepared for Cloud when he was unconscious. "You mistook me for a 'Florian'. Could you tell me why?" When he said that name Cloud could have sworn that the blood suddenly flowed much faster than before.

"You look like this guy I met less than a year ago," he answered. "Except your hair is styled differently, shorter, and a different colour—_colours_, apparently. By the way: the blue's gone. Except for that giant lock on the right."

"It's a clip on extension, and I figured I'd go for a different colour this time: white bangs," Kousei chirped. At the same time he arrogantly flicked his bangs. They were indeed white. It was a sharp contrast to the red black nature of the rest of his hair. Cloud could tell from his prideful tone that appearance was of great importance. "But enough of that," suddenly blurted Kousei. "When you said that name my head started to hurt. Images and recollections tried to reach me, but they all died off before I could comprehend them. I kept hearing voices, the same kind. 'You make the family proud, little brother', 'learn from this and try not to turn out like your brother', 'Rene, be careful'... I don't know why, but when I play those words back I just can't help but cry." As if cued by this statement the tears seeped through Kousei's goggles, unable to remain behind them.

"You said someone like you should be able to keep your memories, even in a new life."

"That's the thing, Cloud... I've been thinking hard about it. Why was it that, with my mother being what she was only my sister came out inheriting my mom's blood? I thought I was more like Dad, but I was wrong."

"Hey, I'm sure the answers you need are there. Somewhere."

"Hm. Thanks, Cloud," Kousei sighed heavily. Finally he decided to take his goggles, the tears the possible cause for that choice. Cloud gasped when he saw Kousei's face. There were several factors to this. One was that Kousei barely looked any older than he did the last time Cloud saw him. The other reason was what shocked Cloud even more. He knew that Kousei could change his eyes from amethyst to red depending on how much strength Kousei was calling on. They were red right now, unexpectedly since they weren't really doing anything, but under his eyes on his cheeks were markings that Cloud never saw on him before. At the distance they sat at from each other. Cloud could see the miniscule details in them—except they weren't really details. They resembled the texture a feathered body would show.

"Y-your face!" he said.

"I thought I told you that jumping from one world to another can create inconsistencies between the time period of world A and B. It's been two years for me since I've last been here."

"Oh now I feel _much_ older than before."

"Relax, your effeminate looks subtract the years off of your face."

"Wh—_excuse me!_"

"It's true. You're about as manly as a... um, wait, no, you are one."

"What are you talking about?"

"Forget that, why did you gasp?"

"It's just, your face—I never saw those markings on your face before," Cloud had to hold himself back from touching the feathery marks on Kousei's face. Kousei gingerly touched the markings, as if knowing where they were.

"That's odd," he mumbled. "This... but I didn't... hang on." Kousei pulled the glove off of his left hand and flicked his fingers. A small ember appeared floating over his finger as he held it out, as if to balance the flame. "How is this possible?"

"You can create fire? I'm sure you told me that, but last time I had to lend you a fire materia."

"I told you it was because when I go to another world I won't be able to use the power that was naturally inside of me at birth. Each world is sustained by a powerful life force, and this force is what feeds the living energy. The energy is called something different every time, but in a sense they're all the same. It's like DNA: every human has one, but they're all different."

That made a bit of sense to Cloud. He guessed that it was easy to adapt to using materia because of the convenient shape and the way it was used. The materia presented the knowledge and power of the Lifestream. Using them made you naturally _know._ What he guessed would be dangerous for an alien like Kousei to use was Mako energy.

"Hey," said Cloud suddenly. "I'm glad to see you again and everything, but can you tell me what you know of my situation right now?" Kousei was not taken aback by that rather abrupt comment and seemed to understand Cloud's urgency.

"Let's see. I woke up in this amazing forest, heard a noise. Immediately ran toward it and saw you being attacked by a hazy black cloud. I intervened and pulled you—and your motorcycle—out of safety." Cloud gave him a puzzled look, forcing him to come out and say, "I rode on it. You're not the only experienced delivery boy with a hip-turn-based motorcycle as a method of transportation, you know."

"Right," Cloud looked over himself and found his clothes were cut in many places, nearly reminding him of his last encounter with Sephiroth. Under each cut were deep gashes in his skin. In some places was severe bruising that hurt when he tenderly touched them. His leather gloves had a lot of blood on them too. He looked over at Kousei and winced at how injured he was too.

"Daemeon's going to flip when he sees me," said Kousei through gritted teeth. His face suddenly became depressed, eye brows twisted in worry. "If I see him."

"What do you mean by that?" Cloud was surprised. He was under the impression that Kousei had come to the Planet on his own.

"Just listen closely, Cloud, and—holy crap!" There was a horrendous howl as a sudden gust of wind blew outside of the cave. Cloud saw it too and immediately recognized it as the same hazy black cloud swirling towards them. Kousei picked up his side satchel and shoved the glove back on his left hand. He made a sweeping move with his right hand, followed by a thrust with his palm. The fire from the campfire immediately responded and flew at the black cloud. Cloud jumped onto Fenrir, which was graciously parked nearby, and revved the engine. Kousei sat on the front, holding onto one of the gaps that allowed for the compartment to open. He kept the fire burning like a flamethrower as the cloud was forced against the cave walls. Cloud revved the engine again and took off, slowly increasing his speed until he got out of the cave.

"Shit!" shouted Kousei, cutting the fire as he was forced to shield himself from an ambush of black wisps coming from the cloud. Cloud took a sharp turn to the right.

"Kousei, I need you to get behind me," he said. "I have to get to my swords."

"Got it... and next time try and work out the subtext," quickly responded Kousei. Cloud had no time to catch that last part. He pulled out First Tsurugi and the hollow blade, tossing that one to Kousei. Kousei spun himself around so that his back was against Cloud. He sized up the blade in his hand and shrugged.

"Maybe after this I should broaden my sword play knowledge."

"Heh, no better way than learning through experience."

"Yeah, but preferably when our lives aren't in imminent danger, thanks." Kousei grunted as a streak of the black cloud shot at him. Fenrir jerked slightly as Cloud had to deflect an attack from the side opposite his sword.

Speeding through the Forgotten City Cloud and Kousei fought off the strange entity. It seemed that the swords only did so much as block the attacks, but nothing happened when they tried to attack. Cloud fired a Lightning spell, to no avail. Kousei made fire appear from thin air again and sent a fire ball straight through the cloud. It seemed that whatever it was would avoid fire well enough to not get hurt, and that lightning wouldn't be able to do anything to it.

"These things hurt when they get to you and we can force them away with fire," calculated Kousei.

"And the swords do well to just block," said Cloud.

"Wait, I've got an idea," said Kousei suddenly. "Drive us back to where I found you."

"You mean the Capital?"

"Yeah. Take your sword back," Kousei threw up the hollow blade which Cloud easily caught with First Tsurugi. There was a metallic click, confirming that the blades combined. Kousei fixed his position on Fenrir so that he faced forward and waited for Cloud to get to their destination as fast as he could. At times Kousei would send bursts of fire at the cloud when it got to close. A stray stream of the cloud shot at him and caught Kousei on his jaw before he forced it back with a burst of fire from his hand. Blood trickled from the cut, but he disregarded it and wiped it away.

"We're almost there," called Cloud, "can you see it?"

"Yeah, and that's just good enough." Kousei pulled out of his pouch a light blue crystal cut to a small size. He placed it in a slot on the guard on his left hand. The crystal glowed brightly as he moved his whole arm at the surface of the pond. The water sprang to life, reminding Cloud of the surfacing of the healing water at the church. This time the water became a large snake-like cyclone that Kousei commanded. He whipped the water at the hazy black cloud that made contact. There was another horrendous howl, this time sounding pained. All that time Kousei made sure to hold on to every droplet of water. He swept the cyclone over their heads and put it back where it belonged after it was safe. The water successfully defeated the cloud, which was no more.

Funnily enough something fell down from the water after the cyclone had dispersed to return to where it belonged. Kousei caught it and laughed. He handed the object to Cloud.

"Your phone, buddy," he said with a smirk.

"Damn it," Cloud said irritably. He snatched the phone from the now laughing Kousei. "I'll have to by another one... again." Kousei's laughter was renewed. Cloud put the phone back in its proper place and started to drive again. He wanted to know what it was that attacked them, but a more pressing matter came to his mind. Once he got home he was going to face more than just the lectures from Cid, the questions from Tifa, and the attitude of Reno. He was going to have to face the law. The law of the government. He especially didn't want Kousei to get involved... No, he _definitely _didn't.

"Um... Kousei, when we get to Edge, can you do me a favour?" started Cloud. "Could you get off and make your way over to the Seventh Heaven bar?"

"Trying to hide secrets concerning the violation of the law? Cloud, I should have warned you: that _never_ works with me."

Cloud was glad to be the one driving and in the front. A smile of comfort slipped onto his face.

"Then brace yourself," he said. "Because you're going to be in one hell of a bumpy ride." Damn straight. Cloud was sure that Kousei, being who he is, ought not to exist to _them_. An elite race of superhuman: the Phoenixians, or what the humans have come to call the Neo Ancients. More than that, Cloud was sure that Kousei wouldn't know of their existence either. Cloud didn't want to tell him. It was the kind of thing that had to be learned personally. In Cloud's time he hadn't seen Kousei since their first meeting five and a half years ago. It was then Kousei mentioned being 'the last of his kind' without mentioning what race it was. Now Cloud knew what it was, but the question remained as to why Kousei thought that in the first place. Only one thing could answer that question in Cloud's living memory. It was something Kousei's friend said to Cloud as he lay ill on a cot with a mix of feelings in his eyes.

_"There was a time I lived through, filled with war, anger, fear, and despair. It was horrible for me, for all of us. They were hateful humans, humans who felt forsaken. It was genocide like no other. No one was safe. No one that appeared to be more than just... 'human'."

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_

___**What? Two chapters within a week? Holy mother of fuck how did that even happen? I guess I seem eager. Really, this energy should go into homework so that I can actually graduate this last stretch of high school. Urgh... responsibilities. I sometimes question my choices. That aside, I got my hands on Final Fantasy XIII... **stops to stare at it** Okay, now all I need is a PS3 and I'm set. I probably am pushing my luck, but maybe if I finish the rest of my work by the end of the week... who am I kidding, no matter what I do I'll only get half done and say 'I'm done' to my parents to make them budge.... and my only night playing will easily be Sunday... the day before I go back to school. Fuck.**_  



	3. Second Remnant

**DISCLAIMER: All Final Fantasy VII related content belong to Square Enix. Anything else is mine.

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**PROMISE**

She woke up to the sound of children's laughter. Opening her eyes she found herself lying down on a flowerbed. The flowers surrounding her were scarce, but they were beautiful. She quickly sat up; worried that she was flattening others under her weight.

"Oh, you're awake!" greeted a girl walking up to her. Not far behind this stranger stood a magnificent broadsword embedded into a raised platform. The rays of the sun beaming through the holed roof shun on the sword. Beyond that was surprisingly a natural pool of water. Many children and even some adults danced around in the water. She blinked her eyes hard when she saw a light flutter away from their bodies.

"Oh, it's always like that when their Geostigma is cured," said the girl. The girl knelt down beside her.

"Who are you?" she looked down at her body and realized that she wore clothes she could not recognize. A simple button up black sundress paired with a dark denim jacket with elbow-length sleeves.

"I'm Esmeralda," said the girl. "We changed your clothes to newer, fresher ones. The ones you wore before looked like they've been left to dry in a blazing inferno... Can you remember your name?"

"Ung..."

"Are you okay? Is your head hurting? Oh no, then it's what we thought," said Esmeralda all at once. "You've lost your memories."

"My... memories?"

"Yes. Mr Valentine found you passed out just on the outskirts of the city. He brought you here just recently."

"Recently?"

"Well, last night. It's already midday now. You've been asleep that long," Esmeralda let out a giggle. She saw the look on the young woman's face and quickly amended her statement, "Um, I mean, it would make sense, seeing as how you were involved in something serious."

"Was I?"

"Well, for your clothes to have come out burnt I guess you were..." Esmeralda suddenly went quiet. "Your body's fine, except for that."

"Ouch... what's with this black stuff oozing from my neck?" The young woman placed a hand along her neck and her collar bone. Withdrawing her hand she saw a black substance litter her hand.

"We try to minimize the amount of people in the water," said Esmeralda. "It wouldn't matter much, but you see those people standing at the door. They're here for the new government, waiting for the day their ordered to seize this place from us. Right now use of the healing water is free, until New Movement gains control of it."

"But, it looks like so many people are inflicted with this disease."

"We'll wait until tonight. We're orphans that stay here in this church anyway, so we're kind of allowed. Mr Valentine helps look after us for his friends from Seventh Heaven."

"You keep mentioning this Mr Valentine."

"He was a part of this group called AVALANCHE, see? They helped liberate us from our naive preconception that Mako energy was okay to use. It turned out we were slowly killing the Planet. That black substance, Geostigma: it's the way the Planet is responding to our sins."

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," whispered the young woman.

"That's an interesting philosophy you've got there. Where'd you learn it?"

"I'll let you know once my memories have checked in." She felt happy when Esmeralda laughed.

"Nice to know your sense of humour's still intact!"

"Hey, Esme, how's it going? Who's the new girl?" asked a boy from a group of kids. Behind him stood a sweet looking girl with a pink ribbon in her hair, waiting for him. He had on a stylish dark blue shirt and baggy pants. His hair was a light brown that swept towards many directions, the bangs covering his whole forehead.

"Oh, she's... um," she looked at the young woman who smiled apologetically. "She can't remember, see?"

"Oh, well, I'm Denzel," he extended a hand out. She was glad to remember that she knew what he was waiting for and was ready to return the favour and shake his hand. She noticed that her hand was in a mess: it was her right hand that she used to feel the Geostigma all over her neck.

"Um..." she hesitated.

"Oh no! You have it too!" the girl with the pink ribbon knelt down beside Esmeralda and observed the young woman. "We would have that all fixed, but those scary guys in black with the big swords won't let us today."

"It's okay, but I don't like how some of the kids are looking at me funny," she said. The girl suddenly stamped on her feet after getting up and reprimanded the other children.

"Don't be like that! Most of you know what kind of pain she'll be going through because of it!" she lectured.

"Marlene, calm down," said the boy named Denzel. The young woman noticed there was a ring hanging on his neck. The ring had the raised emblem of a wolf with a nose ring on it.

"Sorry," said Marlene. She pulled out from a pack hanging from a belt on her waist a roll of gauze. "We'll use this to hide it for now."

"Hey, what's going on here?" suddenly called one of the black-clad men. Heavy military boots, leather straps and two pouches on either side of their belts. On their back were a mixed assortment of weaponry, mainly consisting of swords and guns. The young woman's eyes immediately fell upon a young man with startling sapphire blue eyes and messily layered black hair. He was the only one to carry a traditional ranged weapon: a bow and some arrows.

"Nothing's going on, Jacques," crudely responded Esmeralda. The one named Jacques was a young man standing ahead of his group. His hair was jelled back and a light brown. The young woman didn't like the look in his eyes. They were too shifty. She turned to look at the one with the sapphire blue eyes. He jumped when he caught her watching him, although she believed that she was the only one that saw.

"Excuse me," the blue eyed man suddenly said to Jacques, rudely pushing him aside. A boy with spiky blond hair followed him but hesitated when Jacques gave him a look. The blue eyed young man knelt down on one knee and smiled at her.

"Hi," he said.

"Um... hi," she said to him.

"My name is Ty Ohni, what's yours?"

"I don't... know."

"Realy? Well, I'm sure this crowd is making you a bit uncomfortable, so why don't we go outside and talk?"

"Hey! She just woke up from—" interrupted Esmeralda.

"Esme, it's fine, I know what I'm doing," said Ty confidently.

"Only close friends can call me that, you military dog!"

"Don't mind her," whispered Ty as he led the young woman away, "She's just mad that I fell through the roof and nearly flattened you last night."

"You fell through the roof!"

"Don't be so surprised, countless guys have fallen through before me!"

"Oh yeah? How many?"

"... two, but granted, they fell with style."

"Right... I find that hard to believe."

"You're so typical," he muttered. The way he said this surprised her.

"Do you know me?" she asked.

"What makes you say that?"

"Ty, quit dodging. I'm asking you: _do you know who I am_."

"We've only met formally today. I saw you last night when I fell, that's for sure. But I couldn't see if you were alright because Miss Cranky-pants kicked me out of the church. She'd be great as a nun, just add five more decades onto her!"

"That isn't very nice," she warned. Although internally she admitted that it was a funny fact to point out.

"Pick yourself a new name until you can remember," he suggested. She suddenly realized that they were sitting on a pile of debris and that he was wrapping the gauge around her neck. "There, all better. Now all you need to do is wait until Jacques and the rest leave to take a dip and get fixed."

"Thank you, I didn't even notice." Triz tapped the gauze. It was wrapped firmly, not a single part was loose.

"Hm, that only suggests that you've been through these kinds of things before. Not catching near incurable diseases, no. But having gauzes wrapped around your body by someone else: it tells me that you've been getting into a lot of trouble."

"Don't scold me like you know me," she warned.

"Well, so sorry to disappoint, Triz," he suddenly said.

"What?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, that's Ken over there. He must be calling me back on duty. Sorry to cut this date off short." He jumped off of the pile of debris and ran back to the church.

"Wait! Ty!" As she watched Ty-Ohni run into the church Esmeralda came out in a hurry, as if to see if Ty did something wrong to her.

"What happened?"

"He called me 'Triz'."

"What?"

"He called me by a name, Esmeralda," she said. And the funny thing is, that name felt familiar, warm. It clung onto her as soon as it was said.

"Well, who does he think he is to _give _you a name?" disapproved Esmeralda.

"... A friend," said the young woman named Triz. She smiled as she got herself down from the pile of debris. As she dusted herself off from the dirt she caught at the corner of her eye a man in a battered red cape that wrapped firmly around the neck of the wearer, even hiding his chin. He had a mysterious feel about him that intrigued her.

"Good morning, Esmeralda," greeted the man. His voice was calm and monotone, but altogether friendly.

"Hello, Mr Valentine!"Esmeralda chirped.

"Just Vincent's fine," he said.

"Oh, but I couldn't," said Esmeralda, blushing. Vincent Valentine shook his head.

"Hm, it seems that you're awake now, miss," he said.

"Um, can you call me Triz?" she asked. Vincent looked a little bit surprised.

"Isn't it your name?"

"Well, I can't remember."

"It's okay, I think it suits you anyway," Vincent turned to Esmeralda. "You don't mind taking care of her for me?" Esmeralda seemed surprised.

"Sure thing! Oh, and just to let you know, she has the stigma too," Esmeralda gently touched the freshly wrapped gauze on Triz's neck.

"Unfortunate," commented Vincent. He looked around before saying in a whisper, "sneak her a dip if you can tonight."

"That's what I was planning to do, see," whispered back Esmeralda.

"Um... Vincent is it?" said Triz, "Thank you for finding me and bringing me here." Vincent just shook his head.

"I don't deserve that much thanks," he said. Vincent turned to leave, but before he did he looked back at Triz. "When you remember something, please let me know. I have something that I think belongs to you."

"Why can't you just give it to her now?" asked Esmeralda. Vincent didn't bother responding and just left after giving Triz another good look. Triz sighed, perplexed.

"He's... an interesting fellow," she said.

"No kidding."

Esmeralda invited her back into the church, offering up some food choices. Triz never heard of any of the dishes she was offering, or maybe she just couldn't recall. Over the food Esmeralda, Denzel, and Marlene all reviewed the villages and towns for Triz. She couldn't recall any of them, which worried her even more.

Later that night Triz waited by the giant sword. Esmeralda had gone to see to it that Jacques and his men had turned in for the night. The church was quiet and the moonlight graced the few flower patches surrounding the water. The water bounced the light around the church, giving it this sense of beauty despite the shattered pews and damaged pillars. It was calming scenery. Looking up when she heard footsteps she saw Esmeralda come back from outside. She didn't look happy.

"No such luck," she said. "Some of them are on guard. Well, Ty is. I don't know where the others went. He told me they went home, but I don't trust him, see."

"I trust him," Triz suddenly found herself saying. In a defensive manner too. Esmeralda caught onto this and smiled mischievously.

"Do you... like him?"

"Shh! He'll hear you!" Triz said. What was she getting all flustered about? This was unbecoming of her... wait, how can she know that? She barely remembered anything about herself.

"Like he would."

"Anyway, he was the one that wrapped this gauze around my neck!" said Triz, trying to justify her previous and unexpected statement.

"That doesn't prove much."

"He also told me to try to fix myself up tonight before he left."Triz crossed her arms in satisfaction when she saw Esmeralda's surprised expression.

"Okay, okay, you got me," she said. "Do you think we should do it now then?" Triz looked over at the entrance and took off her jacket.

"You'd better get more clothes ready for me, I am _not_ taking my time to strip," said Triz. Esmeralda laughed as she ran off to the back to find her more clothes. Triz took off her shoes, a pair of black boots she either couldn't recognize or remember as her own. She then pulled off her socks and shoved them into the boots. She waded her feet in the water, as if to test the temperature. She looked over at the entrance again.

Ty was watching.

She felt herself freeze up, tense with anticipation. Was he going to expose her? Or was he being a pervert and was waiting for her to strip? Fat chance, she thought. Unexpectedly he just winked at her and looked around, as if to make sure no one was coming. Suddenly his back straightened and he turned around, waving a hand at her to hurry up. Triz looked around, slipped in. She pulled the gauze off and threw it onto the surface. She dipped her body in so that only her head remain dry and stood up straight again. She watched the Geostigma transform into little orbs of light as it fluttered into the sky. Triz looked to the front and heard Ty talking very loudly. He had closed the church doors with enough of a crack open so that only his body was blocking the view. He sounded like he was giving a report. Triz held her breath, waiting to see if he would give her away.

"It's completely quiet in here, I think they've gone to bed," he said.

"I highly doubt that, Ohni, they're a couple of frilly girls. There's no way they would sleep this early. They would be gossiping until dawn!" Triz gasped, hopefully not too loudly, when she recognized the voice belonged to Jacques.

"So, you're suspecting that something is going on only because it's too _quiet_ in here?" asked Ty.

"Well, yeah. That amnesiac girl's probably going to try and sneak a dip into the water tonight! We all heard Esmeralda—she's planning on abusing the water, especially considering the circumstances."

"The healing property of the water's not going to run dry," said Ty. "Trust me, I know for a fact that the water's directly linked to a stream with a lot of influence from the Lifestream."

"How the hell do you know that?"Jacques asked, suspicious. Ty hesitated. Even Triz knew he said something he shouldn't have said. Triz put her hands on the surface, the dirt sticking to her palms. Move too slowly and she was going to get caught, move to fast and she'll make a noise loud enough to wake the dead—and then get caught. Still, she was willing to risk it so that Ty wouldn't have to risk it for her sake.

From the outside there was the sound of a loud splash which immediately alerted both men.

"Out of the way, Ohni, I knew that girl was going to try tonight!" he tried to push Ty away, who stood firmly on the spot.

"But..." he suddenly gasped, but bit his tongue to keep the gist of it from escaping his mouth. He saw something, something that would rile Jacques up even more.

"Move it, Ohni! That's an order!" He pushed, Ty falling to the ground after hitting his head against the door. Jacques wrenched one side open and stormed in. There was nothing there. The water rippled, as if disturbed by something. But there was nothing inside that gave anything away.

"Maybe something fell in," suggested Ty. "It's an open roof, anything could fall in. Even people. Trust me, I should know." Jacques clicked his tongue.

"Esmeralda! Triz! Both of you show yourself!" he screamed. Triz and Esmeralda ran out from the back of the church, both wearing very confused expressions. Ty gave out a mental sigh. So she was still that wily about herself.

"What is it, Jacques?" asked Esmeralda, sounding peeved.

"Did you sneak her in?"

"No! She looks dry to you, doesn't she?"

"She's wearing a different outfit than before!"

"Well, genius, have you ever thought that I—as a girl—would frequent different outfits for one day? Surely you're not as dumb as you look so you _must_ have realized that opportunity." Triz said this with so much blunt sarcasm that she surprised herself. Triz's outfit included a scarf that smartly 'hid her Geostigma'. Esmeralda was amazed at Triz's comment, Jacques stunned. Ty on the other hand laughed hysterically as he sat on the ground behind his superior. Something told Triz that their first impressions of her were completely different. This was unexpected. It was nice knowing that Ty was enjoying himself

"_I'll get you yet! Both of you!_" roared Jacques before storming off.

"Just keep thinking that!" shouted Esmeralda. "We did nothing wrong!"

After a while Ty cleaned himself up, standing up straight and coughing. He looked at Esmeralda and Triz with a smile on his face. Triz could have sworn she saw his ear twitch, and that's when Ty's smile was completely wiped off of his face. He held himself seriously, looking out of the church.

"I need you guys to do something for me," said Ty.

"What's with you asking us something all of the sudden?" wondered Esmeralda suspiciously. "Are you hiding something from your military pals?"

"New Movement... is not my true allegiance." Triz and Esmeralda shared a moment of silence. Ty took his chance to dart off somewhere. It took a while before he returned. With him was an injured young man. The white robe he wore was surprisingly clean, but his clothes underneath were filthy and battered. He seemed half unconscious, barely alive. Something stirred inside Triz, sending worry up her spine.

"Oh my god," whispered Esmeralda. She immediately ran up to Ty and helped him. Triz followed them into the back of the church where the other orphans lay either awake or asleep. There were two cots left empty, one for Triz and one for Esmeralda.

"Let him have mine," said Triz suddenly.

"Are you sure?" asked Esmeralda. Triz nodded.

"What happened to him?" Triz asked Ty.

"I saw him stumbling through the piles of debris just after Jacques came. Do you think you can keep him here?" Triz nodded in immediate response before even waiting to consult with Esmeralda.

"Alright, fine, we'll keep him in," said Esmeralda bitterly after a moment's hesitation. "But once he's all fixed up he's either pulling his weight around, or he's out of here." By now some of the kids that were still awake crept closely to give the unconscious newcomer a look.

"Hey... he looks like Triz," said a little girl.

"What did you say, Anita?" asked Esmeralda, surprised.

"I said he looks like Triz," answered Anita. "Look, same nose, same cheeks. They're hair styles are similar too." Triz noticed as well. They're bangs especially, except his were messier.

"The only difference is that he's a guy," said Ty. Something stirred inside of Triz again. Suddenly her head began to hurt, her heart beating rapidly. She fell to her knees.

"It... it can't be," she gasped. She saw memories as they flooded her mind's eye. She saw herself speak to this young man when they were both younger. She saw him shed tears as he reached out for her, blindly. She saw him scream when a friend had passed away. And then she heard it, the very first thing he ever said to her.

_"So, you're her, are you? Thank god. I was beginning to wonder if I really had a family out there in the world. They've told you right? Mom and Dad? Yeah, that's right. I was surprised too when I found out. My name's Kairon, your long lost..."_

"Twin... brother," was the last thing Triz said before she passed out.

* * *

**Oi... that was a pretty weak ending--at least in my standards. Anyway, I'm going to regret these rapid updates. I seriously should pace myself, but I just can't seem to stop. Sorry if I've been doing nothing but shoving original characters in your face. As you can see, something is seriously going on here. Connection to the FFVII characters, you'll see. In the mean time I'll fix up the next chapter that's already in the works and this time you'll being seeing and hearing more on those friendly faces.**

**EDIT: Not sure if it's too obvious, but I had to fix up something here relating to Denzel and Marlene. I almost missed it, mind. It's got something to do with age consistency. I almost forgot that by now they aren't the ages they appeared during Advent Children/Complete.**


	4. Third Remnant

******DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy VII and all related characters and story belong to Square Enix. Minor references belong to their respected sources. My material is my material.**

**As this is the most recent chapter most of you (who hung on) will catch now that Prelude and the previous two Remnants (chapters), including this one, have received edits on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010. The reason for this is that I really want to make sure that everything written is written as flawlessly as possible and that I can keep up with the slightest bit of information related to the plot. I need to maintain a consistency. Unlike those other stories I've written that relied heavily on reviews to move on I'm going to finish this story no matter how unknown it is. Right now the plot is moving SLOWLY, many featured characters are my OCs and I know most of you came to this story because of the 'Romance' category. The purpose of this story isn't an experiment or a preach to a one true pairing. It's simply writing a story for the sake of telling a story. You know, just like how those books out there get published?**

******

* * *

**

**THE UNKNOWN**

"I never would have guessed," said Vincent in a mocking tone as he entered Seventh Heaven. Behind the counter was a man you would never expect to find standing there. He clicked his tongue at Vincent's comment as he wiped clean a glass.

"Is it my fault New Movement totally made me lose my job?" he responded wryly.

"Relax, Reno, I'm not patronizing you for working," Vincent sat down at a table where Cid Highwind sat, probably there since the breaking hour.

"Nice seein' yeh here, Vince," he greeted. Cid took a sip of his tea. "And he's right, kid. It's just interesting seeing a former Turk like you working as a bus boy."

"I serve food and drinks too, ya know!"

"In that case how about you get me some of that Corel Wine?" asked Vincent loftily. Reno clicked his tongue again, but did what he was told.

"Is she in today?" Vincent asked Cid as he waited.

"No. You know it's the third day that spiky blond hasn't shown his ass or even picked up his cell phone," responded Cid. "She's been worried sick for him. One of these days I'd love to clobber him for making her all worried like that."

"You'd think he'd be over his problems," wondered Vincent.

"You know as well as I do you can never get over anything," said Cid. Reno came by their table and set the glass of wine on Vincent's left.

"Will there be anything else?" Reno asked quite impatiently.

"Yes," said Vincent. "Do you know where Tifa went today?"

"The boss?" Reno crossed his arms before answering, "She went out, said she had to meet somebody. I think it might be that Phoenixian—you know, the eldest son of that Lord Raghnal guy?" Vincent almost choked on his wine. He cleared his throat before setting down his glass again.

"You mean Florian Raghnal? I remember meeting him on that day one year ago," recalled Vincent. "I don't think Cloud's really taken a liking to him."

"No kiddin'," said Cid. "You know what he told me? That that Florian guy reminded him of Sephiroth, at least by his appearance." There was a pause where Cid almost took a sip of his tea. He instead set it down and said, "I don't see it myself, quite frankly."

"Neither do I," Vincent said quietly. "Do you think that Cloud's getting a little bit...?"

"Crazy?" filled in Reno. Vincent gave him a look.

"Don't you have a job to get back to?"

"Well, I never knew I was excused." Reno left their table and responded to the calls of the other waiting customers.

"You know what I think?" started Cid after a moment of silence. "That Cloud... he's holding something back."

"What do you mean?"

"Vince, think about it," Cid leaned in closer, to give the sense that their conversation was about to get private. "Since they're childhood he's been pinin' for her, but now that he's got her he seems to not know what to do."

"Like a lost puppy," Vincent mused as he drank from his glass. "Maybe he's confused."

"What? You mean that he might have started likin'—!" Cid was cut off by a loud cough from a passing Reno. Vincent and Cid looked around and saw that the people sitting in the tables around them have grown curious of their conversation. "Anything for a controversial story," mumbled Cid as he got up. He waved over at Reno and then headed to the door. Vincent finished his glass and got up too.

"Just put it on my tab, Reno," he said. Reno nodded. Vincent followed Cid outside, ignoring some of the stares from people as he walked by.

"You're in town quite early," said Cid, changing the subject.

"I could have taken my time, but I ran into something on my way here," said Vincent. He paused for a moment, choosing to correct himself, "Well... _someone_, actually."

"Is that so?"

"She's young, a teenager. I found her unconscious just on the outskirts of Midgar. Her clothes were all burnt, but she seemed unharmed."

"Where'd you put her?"

"At the church. I just came back from checking on her."

"Where were you before that?" Cid had a knowing tone in his voice. Vincent caught onto this and hesitated with his answer.

"Shalua's," he mumbled. Cid gave out an uproarious laugh. He patted Vincent hard on the back several times until he calmed down.

"Yeah, heard she and Shelke's managed to settle in fine in that new apartment of theirs."

"Think nothing of it, I see her nothing more than an acquaintance," grumbled Vincent. Cid clicked his tongue.

"Are ya sure?"

"Since when were you such an expert on romance?"

"I guess it's an affinity I get from years of marriage."Cid crossed his arms arrogantly. Vincent just scoffed, disbelieved.

"That's hardly possible," he said haughtily.

"Ah, c'mon, Vince, I'm just kiddin' ya," Cid gave him a final shove on his back. "Anyway, what is it about that girl you found that brought you here early?"

"She has the stigma, for one thing," started Vincent. Cid winced in displeasure at hearing that. "And the things that I found with her." He held up a side satchel he had kept strapped to his left thigh. It was fairly large, almost covering the whole of his thigh. "I took a peek and found something interesting."

"Mind if I took a peek?"

"Hm, why not? Let's invade the young lady's personal space while she has yet to know that her things are even missing, let alone in existence," said Vincent in a harsh, sarcastic manner. Cid clicked his tongue and put his hands on his hips.

"Damn, Vince, you didn't have to be so blunt about it," he said. "So she's got amnesia?"

"I'm pretty sure. She only managed a name, but she still seems unsure. I told her to come to me if she remembers anything else."

"And then you'd return her things? Why don't you just give them back to her now?"

"Her amnesia's not your usual case of amnesia."

"Well, I'm no doctor. Tell me how barely even knowing your name is bad."

"What if I give her back her things and then she start fabricating all these kinds of memories from seeing her belongings?"

"You mean...?" Cid was beginning to understand just exactly what Vincent was concerned about.

"We don't know much about her. She might be a survivor of the Nibelheim incident or some kind of extraterrestrial entity that could be worse than Jenova— or worse, she might have the same mental issues Cloud had. She might have been involved in Deepground—you can never be too sure."

"Alright, alright, Vince, I get what you're saying. Does this mean you won't be leaving any time soon?"

"I'll be around for a week like always. But if her amnesia doesn't clear up by then, I'll be taking her with me."

"Jee, Vince, all this attention for one little girl?"

"There's another thing I haven't told you."

"Oh?"

"When I found her I bent over her to see if she was alright... she woke up and..."

"And what? Screamed and panicked? Just like how any other lost and confused teenage girl would if they saw you standing over them?" Cid laughed after Vincent tried to hide his annoyed expression.

"No, Cid, she reacted just like how any other lost and confused seasoned warrior would." Vincent pulled off his right glove and pulled back his sleeve. "I got this from her 'panicking'." Cid sucked in some air as though it was him in pain. On Vincent's arm was a bruising resembling a firm grip that reddened his skin from a twist.

"She must've thrown you hard."

"Very."

"And then what happened?"

"She kind of gave out this hysterical laughter and passed out."

"What the hell have you brought home with ya, Vince?"

"I've been asking myself that the moment I walked into Edge with her in my arms."

* * * *

"Tifa! Is that you?"

"Yuffie!" Tifa spun around to face who called her and found Yuffie Kisaragi jumping down from who-knows-where to greet her. "You're back from Wutai? So how's our rebellious little princess doing?" Yuffie let out an exasperated groan.

"It's horrible. I'd much rather be scouring the whole world for a rare treasure, or maybe one of those naturally crystallized materia that I've been hearing about."

"That seems quite ambitious."

"Well, I hear you've been up to things yourself lately."

"What do you mean by that? You just came back to Edge," Tifa said, disbelieved.

"Oh yeah? Well, I trust my number one source!"

"Really? What source?"

"You mean who: which is me!" Oh, well that made a lot of sense.

"Alright, what did you sniff up?"

"That _guy_ you're with! He's kinda cute," Yuffie said in a sort-of whisper.

"Oh you mean Florian? He went off to get us some food..." It took Tifa a second longer to catch Yuffie's drift. "Oh! No! He and I—we're not—it's _not_ what you think!"

"Tifa, this is one of Edge's best date spots! How the hell can this _not_ be a date! Besides, it's not like you and Cloud did anything." Yuffie soon realized her mistake at mentioning Cloud's name. Tifa looked to the ground and sighed. Her eyes began to water. "Uh oh—what happened? Did something happen to Cloud? Where is that guy anyway?"

"I don't know."

"You... don't know? Oh, don't tell me he ran off again!"

"It's different this time, Yuffie. I've been trying to reach him, but I've been getting nothing but a dead signal. I know he hasn't run off again. He wouldn't—he knows how much we need him. He's becoming really protective of Marlene lately—it's like he's succeeded Barret at being the overprotective father figure."

"Marlene _is_ a teenager now."

"And Denzel's becoming a man. He's going to be going through things that only Cloud would know how to handle."

"You're talking about a guy that's been a vegetable for most of his late teenage life," said Yuffie bluntly. Tifa laughed.

"Well, I'm a woman so how am I going to help Denzel when he asks about manliness and that kind of stuff?"

"Boy, sounding like a parent sure is hard," said Yuffie. Tifa laughed.

"Well, I bet being a princess sure isn't a walk in the park either."

"Like _hell_ it is!" Yuffie and Tifa shared a laugh. From the corner of Tifa's eye she saw an elegantly robed man carrying a couple of hot dogs coming their way.

"Oh, Yuffie, that one coming over—that's Florian," said Tifa.

"That's a pretty odd name for a guy. But it suits him," said Yuffie after she gave him a good squint, "He's got this pretty floral look about him."

"Are you sure you're not saying that because his name sounds flowery?"

"Of course not! These are the eyes of a treasure hunter, missy!"

"_Right_."

"Ah, hello there, miss," greeted Florian. He handed Tifa her hot dog and took Yuffie's hand, kissing it. "It's nice to meet you."

"Uh, the name's Yuffie," said Yuffie, quite flustered at the gesture.

"She's the princess of Wutai," said Tifa offhandedly as she took a bite of her hot dog.

"Is that so?" said Florian, amused.

"But I really want to be a treasure hunter..." mumbled Yuffie more to herself than to the other two.

"I know a bit about you, Miss Yuffie," said Florian.

"Really, oh and you can just call me—!"

"Forget it, Yuffie, I've been begging him for over a year to call me by just my name. He's not budging." Tifa whispered in her ear loudly.

"It is proper etiquette to respect the presence of a lady and to address them as such," said Florian proudly. "Anyway, you, Miss Yuffie, helped create the foundation of the World Regenesis Organization."

"Yeah, but thanks to the New Movement guys I'm forced to fulfill my duties as Wutai's princess!" cried Yuffie angrily. She stomped her feet like a child.

"But while you're here, why don't you help us in our search for Cloud?" asked Tifa, in the hopes of calming Yuffie down.

"You guys are going to look for him?" she asked, surprised.

"Well, at least think up ideas on how and where to look for him," said Tifa.

"And right now the best place to start is in the Sky," Florian held out his hand for Tifa to take.

"You mean up in Sky City?" she asked. Florian nodded. "Um, what about your hot dog?"

"I'm actually more of a vegetarian. I was going to try, but..." He gave the hot dog a look.

"Well, don't mind if I do! At least you won't get cramps when you're flying!" said Yuffie. She snatched the hot dog out of his hand eagerly and devoured it. Tifa figured that she hadn't eaten anything for herself since she got here. Tifa took Florian's extended hand.

"Alright, Florian, whisk us away!" The Phoenixian nodded. Yuffie gulped her last bit of hot dog a bit hard.

"Oh no, flying! I completely forgot that I have motion sickness!"

* * * *

A single white light lit upon him. His hands were encased in a large metallic restraint. The gel in his hair was wearing thin. His bangs slowly slid back over his eyes. Perfect, even with that slim crown sitting lopsided on his head he wasn't going to be denied his chance to hide his eyes. There was a deep seated loathing in them. How he hated misjudgement more than anything. He could sense it around him: several people were seated in raised benches all around him. This was supposed to cause an intimidating effect on him. It wasn't working.

"Your defence can't seem to find anything against you," said the voice of a man. He recalled the encounter just two days ago. This man called himself a Phoenixian with the name of Aleron. A Phoenixian, he thought. The humans of this world called them the Neo Ancients. To him, they were... remnants of a great struggle.

"I find my defence quite lacking, mind," he said crudely.

"Well, you're not a very cooperative defendant," said Aleron with a sadistic tone. "But because we can't seem to find any evidence that claims your innocence of the matter, this court finds you guilty of all charges."

"The only guilt I carry is the death of a thousand innocent souls at my hand," he mumbled to himself.

"The verdict," called Aleron. There was a shuffle of the side in one of the seats. A fumbling of paper and a second later someone spoke out.

"The defendant, Prince Daemeon Fenryr is found guilty of all charges and is hereby sentenced to death. His execution will be carried at sundown in four days on this date." After the date was announced Aleron smashed his gavel.

"Court is adjourned," he said. "Congratulations for being New Movement's critical example." As the people in the dark emptied their seats only Aleron and Daemeon remained. Daemeon could see it clearly. Aleron was satisfied with the outcome. With an obnoxious laugh he too left Daemeon standing alone in the light. There was a shuffle and a door opening behind him, he did not look.

What was that man fooling himself for, shoving Daemeon into a death sentence? It was a laugh. At this very moment Daemeon could very well escape. Shattering the restraints wasn't possible as he had tested out that theory in his prison cell. When he was searched the security guards didn't even notice the bottles hidden inside a secretly sewn pocket on his 'royal' jacket. But he knew that blunted weapons could be effective even for killing, even if the job was done messily and too much evidence could be left behind. He did not prefer it, but he did not ignore the art in that manner. Yet he did not move a muscle and attack the two guards waiting for him by the door from behind. He did not scream nor panic, nor did he allow his coolness to falter. The matter of the fact is he wasn't afraid. What was there to be afraid of? If he were to ever take another redeemable life again he would die on the spot. A sentence only shortening his time left was no change to him at all. But there was an odd feeling of loneliness at that very moment. One of the guards coughed, calling his attention. He could mope in his cell for the remainder of his life, it was time to go.

"_Your Highness_," called one of the guards rudely. The other laughed. Daemeon slowly turned around, ready to shoot demon eyes at them. But what surprised him was that, not only could he see them clearly despite the lacking light, but the complete absence of a certain figure. Slowly Daemeon walked toward the two arrogant men, one of them pestering him with irritable questions.

"So how does it feel like, knowing you're going to die?" he asked. "Oh, and what's it like being a pathetic excuse of a royalty? Huh, Prince?"

"Wherever I'm known they call me the Prince... of Death," he muttered. The two guards ooed in mock amazement. They laughed and jeered at him all while escorting Daemeon to his cell. Even there, Daemeon was surprised, but was determined to hide his emotions to these inglorious bastards. The true reason he was known as the Prince of Death was for the precision in his killings, his lack of hesitation when striking out a target and the obstacles that lie in wait. He held no mercy. If a chance appeared for torture, he took it. If he saw a reason to use his best poison, he would increase its potency and do the job slowly or quickly—however he saw fit. He lacked a conscience when he killed. Daemeon was a monster. But he was only well aware of his sins after the deed was done. Those deeds _had_ to be carried out. It was his job. Silence the evil, protect society. So long as the innocent were not involved, Daemeon would be nothing but a dark contributor to the greater good. But it wasn't truly his infamous reputation in the underground that gave him the title of 'Prince of Death'. It was after a thousand souls were lost by his hand on that fateful day that Daemeon gained a new, albeit unwanted travelling companion. This 'companion' bestowed upon him an unwanted power that determined his fate after death. Sitting in the dark corner of his cell Daemeon looked around and sighed. How can it be, that of all times that bastard of an entity decided to... _disappear_. The almighty Death was nowhere to be seen. The Great Reaper's absence told Daemeon of two possibilities: he was going to live... Or it was time that he joined the Great Reaper's ranks and die.

* * *

**Ominous ending, nothing really important... ish. I really hate doing this, but it's killing me _not_ knowing. At least review. You can say you love it, liked it, think this can be written better, or just absolutely hate it. I for one, don't care if you flame and won't waste my time proving you wrong. I already have to deal with over-opinionated bastards in real life, thanks, all with the notion that when they complain about something anyone who disagrees MUST agree for some idiotic reason. Chapter 5 is already in the works... and my god I'm liking it more and more. Cloud gets to have a little bit of fun. No more angsty emoness. Just him and a dude from another world bonding in what is Cloud's missing finale of adolescence.**

**Gnrrk. Final Fantasy XIII... TAUNTING ME. I. NEED. P.S.3. Sucks I have the game but not the console. What was I thinking? Motivation for school work my ass.**


	5. Fourth Remnant

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the Final Fantasy VII content or characters.**

**Fantasy Dictionary note: Wundor is pronounced _One-due-r_.**

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**BONDS**

It took them a while to get back to the Eastern Continent since the boat back also had restrictions on running. Thankfully the ship would sail between the Eastern and Northern Continent tri-weekly. Cloud was lucky that the ship had to make an extra run on that day as it had to transport a bunch of eager tourists dying to get to Icicle Inn. By midday Cloud and Kousei arrived tired and battered at Edge. Unfortunately for their tired bodies a long line up of people stood in their way.

"My _God _does this line _end?_" moaned Kousei impatiently. He was right. Cloud thought oil was being restricted, so why were all these people in line for a mileage check? At the very distant front there seemed to be a commotion. Probably a driver claiming that he was under the limit. Around them were other people in an assortment of buggies. Those smart enough to rent a chocobo were allowed immediate passage after paying the toll. Cloud averted the gazes that fell upon him and Kousei. They were bloody and dirty and probably stank of sweat and, well, blood. He was glad that Kousei kept his goggles on after their narrow defeat of the strange hazy cloud. A human would attract a lot of attention with someone like him around, for one thing. On the other hand... He looked over at Kousei and a twinge of guilt twisted his stomach. Cloud decided against himself and tried to find another topic to distract him from the thought.

"Look over there," said Cloud, pointing to the left of them. Close to the entrance to Edge was an entire lot taped off by the guards by the check point. Drivers were pulled out of their vehicle after parking, some handed tickets while others were led away in hand cuffs.

"Y-you're kidding me," muttered Kousei. "They're impounding them?"

"A minor offence gets you a ticket for a hefty price," explained Cloud. "A big one gets you a date with the judge. And I heard he isn't so nice. It's why I'm wearing all of my Fusion Swords on my back. Just in case, you know?"

"Yeah," scoffed Kousei. "If they can find the evidence first." Cloud found this statement peculiar.

"Evidence? What else would you need besides the mileage meter and a signed confession?"

"Trust me. From experience I know that getting confessions are hard as hell."

"But some have admitted they've trespassed their limits before," pointed out Cloud.

"Wouldn't you think that they'd be covering something up?" Kousei made a good point. Cloud was distracted by the nuisance of the procedure but in this light the system was clearly flawed.

"It would be easy to lie," admitted Cloud. Kousei nodded enthusiastically.

"Extra mileage from deathly high speed fights gets us a ticket?" asked Kousei.

"If we can prove it."

"I know you're pretty known all around here based on the stories you told me before. They all know you carry that Fusion Sword around, right?" Cloud nodded. "Then it's simple. An analysis of your swords and our wounds prove they weren't self-inflicted. Hell, even if they claimed we used another weapon, these wounds don't even look human."

"But how do we prove that riding Fenrir past the limit would qualify as 'enduring battle'?"

"There are many angry monsters out there, I'm sure. I'd doubt Fenrir here can outride all of them." At this Cloud thought of the Midgar Zolom. He'd still prefer a chocobo over Fenrir if he ever had to pass through there again. But looking at Fenrir there was no way to prove he passed by the swamp. He also made frequent deliveries beyond that natural border. Cloud had communicated through Barret the procedure: drive to the ranch, take out one of his personally bred chocbos and ride it through the swamp.

"Push," grunted Cloud, noticing the line moving for once. He and Kousei ignored their complaining wounds and muscles to move Fenrir along.

"Kousei, it might be obvious we went through there," said Cloud, trying to be cryptic. Kousei picked at a scabbing wound, trying to relieve an itch.

"That's problematic."

"Definitely," said Cloud. "What then? It'd be troublesome for Tifa and the kids if I get arrested."

Kousei contemplated on a thought for a while. It almost took until they were at the front when Kousei finally said something.

"Are your keys still in the ignition?"

"Uh..." Cloud found that question odd and couldn't find an answer. He only managed a meagre, "yes" before Kousei just nodded.

"I see," he mumbled, more to himself than anything. Cloud felt twinge of worry in his stomach this time. Daemeon's sickly voice echoed in his head as Cloud recalled a statement the peculiar prince made.

"_He'll make you worry and he'll make you regret. He's really good at that. God bless you if you get stuck with something that combines both."_

Cloud definitely regretted not speaking up. If any of his comrades were around they'd ask what was wrong. None of them would get it, but Cloud figured they'd get the same unsure feeling if they were to witness Kousei as his mind worked its wonders. What was it that made that brain of his tick?

"Push, we're up right after this buggy," said Kousei, bring Cloud out of his panicking thoughts. Cloud tensed up as they wheeled Fenrir right up to the toll guard to inspect. Cloud detested this man when he happened to be on shift whenever Cloud would return home. Fat and ugly with a dirty and gruff look about him. His uniform uncomfortably stretched as his stomach bulged from the restraining belt. The toll guard would often smell of a sweet smelling cologne that made Cloud feel light headed when he got close enough to get a whiff, but then that light headed sense would turn to nausea because of the overpowering scent of booze and tobacco. When the man smiled Cloud cringed on this inside: the man's teeth were gapped and crooked, yellowing from the unhygienic lifestyle.

"Cloud," greeted the man a little _too_ welcomingly. "You're about four days late. Did our little hero get lost?" The man bent over the front of Fenrir to observe the meter. Kousei, who had been standing by the handlebars immediately backed off and gagged from the overwhelming senses. Cloud found the expression quite hilarious and tried his hardest not to laugh. Kousei's face wore the look of someone that wanted to get away as far as possible from the toll guard and at the same time he wanted to lay waste to him. The poor guy, either way he would be left unsatisfied.

"Could you hurry things up?" Cloud asked stiffly. The toll guard raised his head and looked at Cloud with a cocked eyebrow and a nasty smile.

"I'm sorry to say, Cloud, but you're going to have to take your time and explain why you're over the limit," he said nastily.

"Limit breaks, it's what I do," said Cloud bluntly as he stared airily into the streets of the city. He was tired and just really wanted to get home. Next to him Kousei doubled over in laughter in response to his comment. Good for him still finding the energy. Cloud was spent.

"Funny guy, but judging by your looks you look like you got into a serious fight. Did our little hero finally get bested by a big scary monster?" The toll guard howled with laughter. Cloud and Kousei both winced at the sound of his chortle and suffered the duration of it until, finally, the toll guard decided to calm down.

"Well, you know why I'm late, so can we _please_ get through?" Cloud practically begged.

"Hang on."

"What now?"

"That guy. Who is he? I checked over your report. You were to make a delivery to a family at Icicle Inn, during which you needed a boat transfer to get the job done right. You were supposed to be back here right on time because the trip back was scheduled on the second run of the week _yesterday_. Did you stop and pick this boob up too?"

Cloud could only think that Daemeon's stories were reason enough to cause him to tense up this much the moment the toll guard caught Kousei's attention. Cloud's mind went into a flurry. Daemeon told him that Kousei was a jerk way off worse than Cloud back when his memories were... _lacking_. That jerky attitude never seemed to die off. In fact many people, according to Daemeon, actually saw that Kousei's new blend of a jerk with a heart of gold and a light-hearted big brother-like figure was _worse_ than 'Antarctica's climate', as Daemeon put it. Cloud imagined a very southern continent plagued by cold winds worse than the Northern Continent. Apparently no human settlement existed there, only the facilities of the brave human scientists studying the weather and the animal life of the frozen continent. As a tease Kousei would be frequently called the 'King Siberia' by many of his friends, particularly a teenage girl Kousei would trust his life with. Her name was... what was it? Cloud couldn't really remember. And right now it didn't matter. He stared apprehensively at Kousei, who seemed irked at the insensitive comment that the toll guard made.

"Uh huh, is there a problem if a buddy hitched a ride?" asked Kousei viciously. In Cloud's mind two words kept repeating themselves: _ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap..._

"Yeah if it means veering off course and killing the Planet," said the toll guard defensively. Kousei scoffed.

"Well, excuse me if a little detour caused harm to your precious Planet. In the mean time some psycho phenomenon is flitting about out there searching for more sorry humans to antagonize just like me and Cloud here!"

"You know what, I don't think you're insensitive attitude is winning our great hero here any points." Cloud really was going to lose it if that guy was to going to mockingly refer to him as a hero. He was ready to let Kousei let loose on the bastard, if _only_ the consequences weren't so high. Like the law enforcement officers, for instance. They were all pooling towards the main toll, waiting anxiously for Kousei to snap.

"I doubt anyone here would find your fat ass a great sight to look at, tubby," retorted Kousei obnoxiously. Oh damn, why did Kousei have such an egotistical mindset? It seemed Kousei wasn't finished, either, "I guess the point you're missing here is the fact that people are _desperate_ to get from point A to point B while you sit your lazy ass on that tiny bench all day, sending putrid acid down people's throats and lungs when they come by."

"Now you listen here!"

"No, pal, I believe _you'll_ listen. Get your act straight or get packing because what I see from you is a biased analysis against anyone you don't seem to like. Or maybe it's because you just like abusing your authority. Is it because this could possibly be the first and _only_ job you've ever managed ever since the new government kicked in? Yeah, I bet it is. And I doubt you even _had_ a job when the WRO or Shin-Ra was around in the beginning." Cloud began to send pleas to that God Daemeon and Kousei keep referring to, whatever entity it was on their home world. He begged that Kousei was done. This was enough. They were in _trouble_. He was asking for a way to _avoid_ the trouble, not cause it!

"That's it, I'm impounding you're bike," growled the toll guard. Cloud gasped.

"What? Hey, I have a family to take care of!"

"You and the rest of the city, man! Now get the hell out of here before I get both your sorry asses arrested."

Cloud was ready to argue back, but was stopped shy of doing so when he saw an elegant looking man walk towards them from within Edge. Cloud knew immediately who he was and quickly grabbed Kousei as other guards pushed Fenrir towards the impound lot.

"What?" Kouseiasked, confused.

"Go," said Cloud. "Let's go."

"But, wait, what about Fenrir?"

"Not _now_. Let's just go!" Cloud was nearly ready to knock Kousei out when he turned to face the direction where the elegant man of the government slowly walked toward them. Cloud pulled Kousei's face by the chin to face him. He ignored the fact that Cloud stood taller than him at five-ten while Cloud was a measly five... seven or eight? He couldn't remember. "If you have any other brilliant idea I suggest you do it _now_," Cloud muttered darkly. Kousei suddenly smirked.

"Hey, mister guard, are you going to try and get us convicted?" asked Kousei. The guards stopped pushing Fenrir and looked at the toll guard, waiting for his response.

"Do you really want prison that badly? Well unfortunately for you the general's here and I don't think he really buys you're mythical monster attack story so well."

Cloud's fears were realized when Kousei saw the general finally approach them and doubled over, hand on head, blood streaming out of his nose. He saw Kousei mouth the words 'what' and 'how' in failed sentences repeatedly. Cloud reached out a concerned hand, hoping Kousei wouldn't lose it and pass out right then and there.

"It's evident you two have been in a fight," said the general. "But the memory of the Planet tells me differently."

"Oh really?" growled Kousei, trying to keep himself standing. Cloud decided to support him as he watched the exchange with extreme caution.

"The Forgotten City holds many secrets."

"Yeah, you do realize you're going to need actual evidence to_ prove_ where we've been," arrogantly stated Kousei.

"It's easy to gather forensic evidence."

"Oh, so sure, but that would mean your entire theory is banking on Cloud's bike here," said Kousei. Oh no, what was he thinking?

"What are you getting at?" the general wasn't smiling anymore. He was frightening to look at with an angry face. His orange eyes looked like they were literally on fire.

"Sir!" cried a guard. Cloud saw then and there that chaos had erupted. It started with the sudden roar of Fenrir's engine. Instantly he saw Fenrir ride off with no one steering it and the law enforcers mobilizing to capture it. The toll guard fell off his stool and fell with a great thump on the ground. He stared up at Kousei, who just saluted him a vulgar finger before facing the general.

"General Aleron, is it?" suddenly said Kousei. "I believe you've just lost your only lead." General Aleron looked just about ready to arrest the both of them, or go into cardiac arrest. He was shocked, looking as though he was really electrocuted with a level two Lightning spell. Cloud knew what was going through his mind, partially. If Kousei moved Fenrir with his mind, there were no materia around to prove it. Cloud was even curious himself. First the fire, now this?

"But it can't be... but only Letalisians can..." Aleron was at a loss for words. His voice failed him so his mouth just opened and closed like a shored fish.

"Baffling, huh?" said Kousei with a triumphant smirk. "Got to me too when I found out. But I know better. Come on, Cloud, they won't be bugging us for a while."

"Kousei, what was that? Did you move Fenrir with your _mind_?" asked Cloud as soon as they got far enough from the gates and were well into the city. Kousei laughed, but the smile quickly vanished from his face.

"Cloud, what's going on? Why haven't you said... anything?" Sadness took hold of Kousei's voice. Cloud's throat knotted. Maybe he should have been straight with Kousei since the beginning.

"Kousei. You and I first met five-and-a-half years ago. No sooner after you left did the New Leader show to the entire Planet the Neo Ancients, the supposed Cetra of the future. Everyone was shocked to find out an entire civilization of superhuman beings existed along with their utopian city in the skies, after all this time. The leader of the Neo Ancients told us during Election Day that they were aliens from a world called Wundor. They fled their homes and their families to escape the Extermination. That genocide involved the utter destruction of their home and threatened the very existence of the supreme race. They escaped to this world, hoping for the day they return to their own planet." Cloud took a deep breath. He observe Kousei, who seemed to slow down his pace. Eventually Kousei sat down against a building wall in an alleyway. Cloud stood over him with sad and regretful eyes. Cloud wondered if he was going to be okay.

"Cloud... Thank you. And I'm sorry," said Kousei weakly. He pulled off his goggles, letting them hang from his neck. He held his head in his hands and gritted his teeth. More blood flooded out of his nose. "I owe you a new Fenrir..." Cloud's eyes widened when he saw Kousei slump against the building wall, completely unconscious. Desperately he tried to keep calm. He had no phone, no one to call. He feared what would happen if he brought Kousei to the hospital. No one on the Planet needed to know that Kousei was a Neo Ancient—a Phoenixian. Kousei was supposed to be the last. There wasn't supposed to be a 'last'. No Phoenixian was supposed to survive the Extermination. But that's what they thought and believed after all these years.

Cloud looked around desperately as he knelt down by Kousei, unsure of what was happening. He then heard a beeping noise coming from Kousei's belt. Of course, Kousei had a phone. _That_ phone. The phone that could call another from across the universe, given the right time to recalibrate the signal.

_Kousei and Daemeon said forty-eight hours. If Kousei woke up three days ago and found himself here, that would mean he's been here for four days._ Cloud pulled the phone out of Kousei's pocket and flipped it open. There was a center button on the bottom half of the phone and the screen was large on the top half. Cloud pushed the button and saw a bunch of text he believed to be whatever language Kousei's world spoke. The phone was saying something, Cloud not knowing what. There was a brief flash, hurting Cloud's eyes.

"_Hero Phone, ValPheior model, successfully recalibrated. Thank you for using Techmech City's military service._" Cloud was dumbfounded. Military service? First a prince for a best friend and now a phone linked up to some alien city's military. Cloud was beginning to wonder just who the hell Kousei was. Suddenly Kousei's phone began to ring. The display read a name which Cloud couldn't read. Hoping that whoever it was on the other end could understand him, Cloud answered the phone.

"He-hello?" he stuttered.

"Wh-who's this?" said the voice of a young man, probably late teens. Cloud was surprised. He could understand him too. "Wait," suddenly said the mystery caller, "I recognize this voice. Yeah, I heard it from that bar the guys are always talking about. What did Ken say his name was again? Oh yeah, Denzel mentions him too. You're Cloud Strife, aren't you?"

"Who is this?" asked Cloud. "Are you a friend of Kousei's."

"So he's with you?" said the young man eagerly. "Oh thank God! I'm in a bit of a dilemma and I was hoping, could I talk to him?"

"Tough luck, I'm in a bit of a tangle myself," said Cloud. He like the young man's attitude. Just like with Kousei, he reminded Cloud of someone. "I was hoping _you_ could help _me._"

"Go shoot, what's up?"

"Your friend's got himself into quite a fix. He's unconscious, his head's killing him, and he's got blood streaming through his nose." Cloud could swear he heard a strangling gasp from the young man's end before hearing a response.

"He found out, didn't he? How? When? _Do you realize exactly what he is?_" panicked the young man. Cloud was relieved. He wasn't the only one that saw the problem at face value. There was also one thing to note. The young man knew about the Neo Ancients and where they came from.

"I take it you know a lot about the Neo Ancients?" asked Cloud. There was an eager response.

"No kidding. I've been wandering around this city for about two weeks. After day one I saw them for myself and got the scent of them too. I'm a fellow subhuman, like them, except they've been around so long they're more _super_human than a _sub_human. I joined the military just to get information. My _God_ I can't believe that he isn't the last one after all this time!"

"I was just as surprised about this about six years ago. I felt alone about the problem because nobody knew about Kousei."

"Anyway, you're in luck that I called. I'm the right guy for your little problem. I think," said the young man after a pause. "Tell me where you are. After a couple of weeks I got a sense of where everything is."

"Really?" Cloud was amazed.

"Yeah," the young man tried to sound humble. "But it's easiest to go from roof to roof. I'll see you in a bit." The young man hung up, leaving Cloud sitting next to the fallen Kousei. Out of habit, just like when Cloud would check on Denzel and Marlene if they didn't feel well, he took off his glove and put his hand on Kousei's forehead. He instantly pulled his hand back and massaged it. The skin was reddening and bubbling. He got burned just by touching Kousei. Phoenixians are supposed to have very warm bodies, naturally, more so than humans. Kousei was _scorching hot_. He was even beginning to sweat.

Up from above, far along the alleyway, Cloud heard an echoing thump. The squish of the familiar military boots against puddles of water rung in Cloud's ears as the unknown person approached him. He swore he saw sapphire blue eyes glowing from the shadows.

"Cloud, right?" asked the stranger. Cloud recognized the voice as the young man he just spoke to. He extended his hand to shake the other's formally, but froze about half way. Stepping into the light Cloud saw a ghost of Zack Fair in the young man's appearance. Messy layered black hair and the blue eyes that glowed, although Cloud couldn't fathom why this young man's eyes would be glowing. On the young man's back were two swords, the handles placed together and what seemed like ice keeping them from separating in their holster. A bow and a satchel of arrows, not guns and packs of magazines, but traditional ranged weapons hung und his belt. The young man was just an inch taller than Cloud was. Cloud got a strong sense, like he did with Kousei, Daemeon, and the Phoenixians, that just by Tylor's appearance he appeared other-worldly.

"Cloud Strife," greeted Cloud. He was going to find this company peculiar. The young man shook Cloud's hand.

"Tylor Winter, but I've given an alias to just about everyone I've met. Even you're girlfriend," introduced the budding soldier. "Heh, even _my_ girlfriend. She's, uh, kinda lost her memory. Something happened on our way here and we think that's the cause."

"We?"

"Bumped into her twin brother. He remembers everything, but maybe it's because he crash landed with Daemeon and not teleported down here like the rest of us. According to Esmeralda she was found by a man named Vincent Valentine in the outskirts of the desert area. She apparently woke up three-four days ago."

"So did Kousei."

"Whoa, two weeks in limbo? Now that's scary." Tylor soon turned his attention to Kousei and felt his forehead just like Cloud did. Except this time Tylor had the sense to keep his gloves on. But even as thick as they were Tylor was forced to retreat his hand just as soon as Cloud had to. He pulled off the glove and saw that the back of his hand was slightly red, but they weren't bubbling like Cloud's was. He still left the skin exposed.

"I'm still a bit confused on the facts, Tylor," said Cloud. "I have no idea why you guys are here and why Kousei thought that he was the last Phoenixian in existence. I'm also not sure how your... uh, 'magic system' works, either." Tylor looked at Cloud when he said that last part and smiled.

"Heh, you mean Essence? I'm sure the Phoenixian's started teaching you guys about those. It's what runs the crystal engines. It's your new energy source." Cloud blinked.

"Essence?"

"Not the word but the term," said Tylor. He lifted up his soar hand and moved his fingers flowingly. Water appeared from the air before them, enough to form a small fully grown materia sized orb. Cloud was awed when Tylor decided to freeze the water and turned the orb into a ball of ice. Tylor continued with his explanation, "Essence is the power drawn from nature. Wundrians all have the power inside of them, straight from birth. At any age you can choose to access it for the first time, but the most potent users are those with the best relation to nature. You see, what happens is that we draw the energy from nature, the best example being the basic elements. Kousei's got fire, naturally, and I have water—by extension, ice, but that took a while to get the hang of. What we do is draw on the force of nature that would naturally call for these elements to occur. Water is a readily available source, even with no body of water in sight."

"The water droplets. All you have to do is separate them from the air."

Tylor nodded with a smile.

"There are other forms of natural powers that can be obtained. Sound, gravity, heck—even souls. You should save your questions for that when you meet my best bud. He's the all around expert on that. Hell, he'd know twice the amount of stuff I'm telling you, and that's a lot of info. Godforsaken genius." Tylor mumbled that last bit to himself, but it brought a smile onto Cloud's face.

"Here we have materia carrying the knowledge of the Lifestream. It's through these materia that we can use magic."

"Yeah, in a sense, Essence is more like magic. Although, I have to give you a little geography lesson. Only Wundrians born on Wundor, or born from Wundrian parents can wield Essence." Immediately Cloud looked over at Kousei. When they first met Daemeon and Kousei made the distinction that they were from two connected worlds. They never lingered on the topic so Cloud never really got much out them. Tylor seemed to know what Cloud was thinking next.

"Things like moving objects with your mind and reading other people's thoughts—these aren't occurrences of nature. These are more related to the works of the human body and mind."

"Humans especially?"

"Nope. Humans _specifically_." Now that was peculiar.

"As the guys have told you Wundor coexists as a parallel to another, more _normal_ world. Wundor is the older of the two planets, growing at a much faster rate thanks to Essence strengthening the force of natural life. _Letalis_ on the other hand is your world when it gets drunk on oil."

"You mean the effects of oil as an energy source has already happened to Letalis?"

"Of course," said Tylor. "It's only now that the countries are able to get their starter kits to use Wundrian technology, which is more advanced. Crystal technology is rare on Wundor for obvious reasons, so they turned to their most basic forms: invent the wheel, the toaster, the radio, the TV, and then gradually make them better. And by better, it's also safer for the environment. An unhealthy planet leads to unhappy people."

"I'm guessing Essence is a way of life then?" Cloud was beginning to truly feel for the Cetra now. They had this connection with the Planet, but the humans grew drunk on Mako energy. They were foolish.

"But poor little Letalis doesn't have the strength of Wundor, so it's weaker, younger, and generally _dying_. Humans and a small population of nonhumans exist on Letalis, but most humans don't even know about their mythical and magical neighbours. Until the last sixty or so years decided to say something different. I guess poor ol' Letalis got tired of being sick so it allowed its inhabitants to unlock their dormant power—power which only the nonhumans were slightly capable of, before evolving it along a different path. Chi, chakra, whatever you call it it's the energy produced between the balance of the psyche and body. It's what allows you to survive insane heights, punch a wall into pieces, and even kill people with your mind. We discovered ESP, and it's a growing phenomenon to this day. Thanks to its discovery communications with Wundor was established after discovering its existence."

"You were born there, weren't you?" asked Cloud. Tylor took out a packet of tissues and took out a piece to roll up and shove up into one of Kousei's nostrils.

"My dad's a Letalisian human. My mom's a Wolfen from a long line of Letalis based Wolvens. She was also born on Letalis but had the gift of Wundor in her. She past that gift onto her children, but as the Wundrian blood dwindled only three out of five kids got Essence. Me, my sister, and my twin brother. Only my twin and I were able to become Wolvens. That kind of thing is also genetic."

"So ESP is power from the mind and body?"

"We think it's the premature form of Essence, but due to the size of Letalis' crystal core it's all we're going to get." He looked over Kousei and sighed. "I wish Dad were here. He'd get Kousei right in a snap. Almost. All I can say is, right now, he needs a lot of bed rest. Know of a place?"

"Yeah. Seventh Heaven. If you know my, er, girlfriend then you'd know where it is." It was awkward saying it the way Tylor did. Compared to him, Cloud felt the word fumble around on his mouth. It was almost uncomfortable, like he shouldn't be saying it. Tylor heard every tone in Cloud's voice and smiled peculiarly after hoisting up Kousei and carrying him on his back.

"Trouble with love?"

"Yeah... are you okay with him? Do you need help?"

"Don't change the subject, dude. I know when a guy's got relationship issue from a mile away," said Tylor after making sure Kousei wasn't going to fall off. As he and Cloud were about the same height it was only now Cloud saw Tylor's build. He was moderately built, not too thin, and not too thick either. His physique had the telling of someone with fighting experience. Tylor was a fit person, as healthy as can be. Cloud would be able to carry Kousei too, but remembering the design of the Fusion Sword holster on his back that was going to become a challenge.

"Okay," admitted Cloud. "I'm not... exactly sure if Tifa and I are 'steady', to put it in a word."

"Yeah, she didn't sound too sure when she told me. She tried hiding it though, but I have good hearing. Again, it's because I'm a Wolfen." Cloud nodded, understanding him.

"Tifa's like that. She likes to hide her problems and only comes out with them when it's almost too late. Now come on, the bar isn't too far off from here."

After what seemed like an hour they arrived at Seventh Heaven. The night lamps were on and the sun set. The moon glowed from high in the sky, almost a full moon. Tylor seemed livelier as the night stretched onward. Cloud could only guess that it was due to his Wolfen attributes. Daemeon explain that a Wolfen is a human blessed by the spirits of the wolves, much like how a Phoenixian is a human blessed by the gift of the phoenix.

The bar was already amongst its closing hours when they got there. Several times the military issued phone on Tylor's waist beeped, calling for him, but he didn't bother with picking it up. Cloud searched his pockets for the keys. Suddenly he remembered that he left the keys in Fenrir's ignition.

"Locked out?" guessed Tylor.

"Did the military get a call about a driverless motorcycle running through the city?" asked Cloud. He waited anxiously for the answer, remembering fully well Kousei's earlier apology.

"Yeah, is it yours? I'd keep that quiet. It's beyond recognition. Why?" suddenly Tylor gasped and looked at Kousei. "He didn't, did he?"

"Psychokinetically I guess," said Cloud. "If we time the moment he passed out to when it crashed, then we have our cause." Tylor clicked his tongue with a sigh and shook his head.

"I'm so sorry, Cloud. He's never lost control before. Talk about a case of bad luck, but I'm sure he'll owe you for it. I'm going to take a gander and say he's going to offer a hand and make you a new one."

"He can build one?"

"Yeah, and one that runs with a crystal engine so the toll's going to have to leave you alone."

Cloud was glad about that, but the thought of having to explain where he obtained the crystals necessary was going to be a challenge. He knocked on the door, hoping someone would answer. Luckily for him, Reno was still in.

"Look who's decided to come home!" said Reno. "Do you have any idea what you put us through?" He caught sight of Tylor and Kousei and immediately his expression because suspecting.

"They're friends," said Cloud stiffly. "Kousei needs to get to a bed fast."

"Alright, but what about the Wolf?"

"Who?"

"He means me. I told them that 'Ty Ohni' means wolf," said Tylor. Cloud was confused until he remembered Tylor mention giving an alias to everyone he'd met. That must have been it.

"I trust him, Reno, you should too," said Cloud assuredly. "Now can we get in?"

"Alright, and I'm glad you came back. I can finally go home."

"What do you mean?"

"Tifa asked me to watch the kids while she was up in Sky City." As soon as Reno said that Cloud's heart stopped beating and his stomach lurched. What was she doing up there in Sky City? Cloud didn't even need to ask _who_ it was that coaxed her into going up there.

"Well, I guess Tseng can't live without your company forever," said Cloud, trying to mask his discomfort. "Go home, Reno." Reno patted him on the shoulder sympathetically before walking past him. Cloud turned to Tylor, offering to take Kousei off of his shoulders.

"Ooh, thanks," said Tylor, relieved. He rolled his shoulders to relieve himself of the pain. "I'll be by the church tomorrow if you need help. I've been stationed there since I enlisted. You can call me through Kousei's phone. Just press the center button and say my name." With that Tylor ran off into the night, leaving Cloud with the unconscious Kousei.

"Alright, Kousei, let's get you to bed," mumbled Cloud. Kousei made a sound, probably in response. Was he half awake all this time?

Cloud put him in the room he shared with Tifa. When they had a guest over they would move into Cloud's office and sleep in the spare bed set up in there. That way Cloud didn't have a problem waking up anyone to take up orders for the day's deliveries. Cloud pulled the blanket over Kousei and observed him. It was like taking care of your own kid with him. He was barely older than Denzel, but there was a sense of innocence coming from him. Cloud didn't feel like leaving the room to go to bed himself. He felt like he needed to sit close by and stand watch, just in case Kousei would wake from a nightmare or his condition growing worse. Cloud wanted to be there to make sure he was okay.

He soon realized that his actions mirrored Kousei's strongly when Daemeon fell ill during their first visit to the Planet five-and-a-half years ago. Kousei wouldn't sleep, even after Cloud tried to convince him. Kousei would always sit right next to the opening of the tent they set up while Daemeon would progressively grow worse, the horrible blend of Geostigma and Wundor's hazardous pollution Plaguing Daemeon's body at the same time. Sometimes Kousei would fall asleep and mumble apologies like a frightened child.

Cloud learned slowly after the first night with them the kind of people that they were. Both of them carried a great guilt, both ranging in several degrees. But what never changed was their loyalty to each other. It was the kind of friendship Cloud had with Zack, even if Cloud was a vegetable during Zack's final year alive. Maybe that's what drew Cloud closely to Kousei. Kousei was very much like Zack. Their personalities were similar in many ways. They were both very social and confident in themselves. Kousei had that same childlike flare Zack had, which granted Zack the nickname 'the puppy' all throughout Shin-Ra. Kousei was, in a way, still a kid. He learned about a year ago from Florian's younger brother, who was much more likeable in Cloud's eyes than Florian. He explained that a Phoenixian's age was times one hundred more than humans. Kousei would be a hatchling to them, a little child—a baby, perhaps. Cloud smiled. No wonder Kousei was always irritable when people worry. He made them feel worried just by nature. Finally Cloud decided to withdraw himself from the room. He was going to do the reasonable thing and trust Kousei with his own recovery. Checking in on Denzel and Marlene, both who still shared a room even now, and found they were sound asleep. Cloud saw a long metal staff sitting against the wall. Denzel must have been practicing today again. Feeling like he should be of some help, Cloud decided to take up training him in the morning.

It was a long day and Cloud had a strong sense that the longer Kousei lingered on the Planet, the crazier the days were going to get. Regardless, Cloud was ready to brace himself, even if it meant taking up the Fusion Sword up again when a battle had to be fought, just like before. And this time he was going to make sure no one's life was going to be lost to it.

* * *

**YES the length is back. Got tired of doing so many short chapters. You can update faster with shorter content, but it'll take longer to relay the story if you keep cutting it off for the next chapter. I was hoping to add a bit of relationship conflicts between Cloud and Tifa and hint at a dirty little secret Kousei's been keeping (but you wouldn't get the significance of that. Kousei's my character, nothing special to you... yet). No reviews yet, oh well. Like that'll stop me. It's just depressing to see this at, what, five chapters without a single comment? At least I got a fave...**

**Still no PS3, especially since that TA interview (when my advisor reviews my work up to date and sends the report to my parents). Must keep trying. Must get working. I NEED TO GRADUATE. Otherwise it'd take even longer before I can make my own Final Fantasy characters.**


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